Somewhere Betwixt Devils & the Deep, Part 1

On Wicked Problems, and a Depth Charge

“If I should attempt to tell how I have desired to spend my life in years past, it would probably surprise those of my readers who are somewhat acquainted with its actual history; it would certainly astonish those who know nothing about it.” — from “Economy,” by Henry David Thoreau (Walden; or, Life in the Woods [Ticknor & Fields, 1854]

Choices…

Once past the signs, there will be tracks…

Coyote trail, SW Colorado lake shore. Image by: B. Frank

Now the choice is whether to follow…

Bear tracks, SW Colorado river bank. Image by: B. Frank

“I long ago lost a hound, a bay horse, and a turtledove, and am still on their trail. Many are the travellers I have spoken concerning them, describing their tracks and what calls they answered to. I have met one or two who had heard the hound, and the tramp of the horse, and even seen the dove disappear behind a cloud, and they seemed as anxious to recover them as if they had lost themselves.” — from “Economy,” by Henry David Thoreau (Walden; or, Life in the Woods [Ticknor & Fields, 1854]

About 50 years ago, a philosopher of ecology published a summary of what he defined as then-current modes of ecological thoughts, arguments, and goals…

…and he posited this concept of responsible long-range ecological principles and concerns:

Both excerpts are from: The Shallow and the Deep, Long-Range Ecology Movement. A Summary — essay by Arne Naess [Inquiry, 16, 95-100; 1973]

Diversity…

Scrub oak and young fir tree. Image by: B. Frank

Complexity…

Fractal patterns of oak leaves and snow. Image by: B. Frank

Autonomy…

Snow crystals on oak leaves. Image by: B. Frank

Decentralization…

Symbiosis…

Young conifers in an aspen grove. Image by: B. Frank

Egalitarianism…

Icicles. Image by: B. Frank

Classlessness…,

In the decade that led up to 1973, I first became aware of principles Arne Naess was exploring—not among the pages of a philosophy journal, but while walking quietly through forests, along rivers, on mountainsides and in canyons—likely while anticipating my chances of catching a fish that would become my dinner, or contemplating whether a then ongoing war promulgated by that era’s power-hungry armchair warriors would succeed in uprooting whatever life plans my young mind had dreamed up. Without realizing it at the time, I had already begun to desire, and to seek an intrinsic relationship with lives unlike my own, what Naess described in his 1973 essay as a “deep ecology worker.” Although this aspect of my desired life path, as Thoreau ruefully noted about his own, “would probably surprise those of my readers who are somewhat acquainted with its actual history,” I have chosen the above images and videos to illustrate some of the concepts I observed many decades ago, with hope that you will consider the intrinsic relationships that can thrive in a healthy forest ecosystem. I ask that you then consider how we humans may strive to embrace and implement long-range policies that better enable life—both human and non-human—to flourish.

In 1985, writer/editor Bill Devall included a discussion of the previous 15 years of Deep Ecology thoughts and principles, as defined by Arne Naess and George Sessions at a camp in Death Valley in 1984…

Image from page 70 of Deep Ecology, by Bill Devall [Gibbs M. Smith, Peregrine Smith Books, 1985]

Bill Devall asked the readers of Deep Ecology to, “…elaborate their own versions of deep ecology, clarify key concepts and think through the consequences of acting on these principles.” Going forward, this still seems a worthwhile endeavor. As a somewhat perplexed young writer named Thoreau had observed so many decades ago, it is easy to lose the track of valued companions, but the quest to recover them can be a path back to what we have lost of our principles, and of ourselves.

As I write these words, bombs, missiles, street battles, and techno-industrialized wealth accumulation schemes are denying non-combatant life forms a chance at a future, while this century’s ardent armchair warriors spar over who has a right to flourish, or even to survive. It is a wicked problem, but there are tracks to follow.

Up next, an exploration of some principles and rituals as described by skier, climber, teacher, deep ecology ‘worker’ Dolores LaChapelle, in Somewhere Betwixt Devils & the Deep, Part 2—The Sacred Middle. Until then, let’s help each other enjoy our beautiful home planet. - B.

• A good overview of deep ecology’s range of thought, circa 1985, is Bill Devall’s book, Deep Ecology: Living as if Nature Mattered.

• For a reminiscence of Henry David Thoreau, written by his friend/mentor/benefactor Ralph Waldo Emerson, an 1862 article in The Atlantic magazine.

• For a deep dive into the thoughts and philosophies of Arne Naess, The Selected Works of Arne Naess.